


Traitors and Turncoats

by Cloud_Prime (Cloud_Nine)



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Child Abuse, Dark Disney, F/F, F/M, Families of Choice, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, M/M, Multi, Past Sexual Assault, Prostitution, Starvation, United States of Auradon (Disney) Is Not Perfect, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-13 05:01:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20168581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloud_Nine/pseuds/Cloud_Prime
Summary: In which the daughter of Maleficent finally takes notice of the two most hated children on the Isle of the Lost.The children of Traitors to the Crown. Branded with a T on their faces Aziz, son of Aladdin and Jasmine and Li Lonnie daughter of Mulan and Shang. Two hero kids locked up on the Isle and branded traitors like their parents who had been executed on live television after a short and violent rebellion against the Beastly King and his invading armies.





	Traitors and Turncoats

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [You Don't Have to Be](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13512258) by [Cloud_Prime (Cloud_Nine)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloud_Nine/pseuds/Cloud_Prime). 

> What started as a Heroes and Villains AU that became something else entirely. Much darker than my other stuff. The tags are the warnings and will be updated as necessary.

Mal was five years old when the new kids arrived. Being the Isle of the Lost, the hellish prison colony that held the United States of Auradon’s most vicious and evil villains, new people were rare. So rare in the sense that there were no new people, ever. So when two new children appeared on the Isle Mal was intrigued, if only for a moment. 

“They won’t last long,” Maleficent had whispered gleefully. “They won’t die, of course, they cannot die. But the mind can only handle death so many times before it breaks.” 

Mal knew in a way that no one on the Isle could die. She had seen men beaten beyond what the human body should be able to endure and eventually crawl away. Still, Maleficent had been more than happy to crow and cheer with the rest of the Isle some months ago when the executions started. 

“We don’t even have to lift a finger,” Maleficent told the gathered crowd of villains. “They will destroy themselves and then we will be free again!” 

That hadn't happened yet, no matter how many people the King killed. The Beast King the Isle called him, not because of his time as a beast but, because of his slaughter of his dissenters. A few executions stood out among the rest Mal remembered as a child. Jafar had smiled for days after the Beast King took the head of the Jasmine and Aladdin, there had been angry mutters of course, as Jafar hadn’t been the one to take their lives but still, Mal had never seen the old junk shop owner so happy. 

The Huns on the eastern coast of the Isle celebrated the deaths of Fa Mulan and Li Shang, but for most of the villains on the Isle, they simply enjoyed the bloodshed. 

Mal was seven years old when she first saw one of the children of the heroes. Maleficent had wanted to take a stroll through the markets. Mal trailed behind her mother careful not to wander too far away but not close enough for her mother to backhand without some effort on the adult’s part. 

Mal almost didn’t notice the skinny, starving child in the alley. It looked more like a skeleton with thin skin stretched over bones. The thing had dark stringy hair clinging to its head but that is all Mal could see. “Please?” the thing begged. 

It caught Maleficent’s attention and Mal wanted to cry out for this being, this so stupid thing. 

“What’s this?” Maleficent purred. The Mistress of Darkness had her goons pluck the thing from the dirt and lift it to her level. “A child? Oh, a traitor!” 

Having it pointed out Mal could see the vivid and rough scarred “T” on the thing’s face. 

“And which one are you?” Maleficent cooed. Her long, sharp nails trailed dangerous lines down the thing’s face. Mal winced she knew what was going to happen next. 

“Li Lonnie,” breathed the thing. 

“The great generals’ daughter!” Maleficent said cheerfully. “How lovely.” 

Faster than anyone could see vivid, fresh lines of blood welled up on the things face. Maleficent’s nails glimmered in the low lighting of the Coward’s Market, 

“You foolish, pitiful creature,” Maleficent said. She flicked her fingers and her goons dropped the body to the ground. “You’ve been on this Isle for two years and you haven’t learned a thing!” 

The thing grunted in pain as Maleficent stomped down on it. Mal could see the pain on the thing’s face as it was pressed into the dirt. 

“There is no goodness here, child,” Maleficent purred. The woman leered down at the broken thing at her feet. “There are no heroes. No one will save you. The only thing you will ever do is lie there on the dirt waiting to die, but I have a secret for you if you haven’t learned it yet. Not even death will save you, child. It’s King Adam’s final gift to you as punishment for your parent’s rebellion. A lifetime of suffering.” 

Mal did not look back at the sobbing creature her mother left in the filth. She did not see the figure that appeared to pull the broken body from the alley. Mal did her best not to see the traitor children and for many years she didn’t. 

Mal was nine when she finally saw something in the traitor children that she could not ignore. Maleficent had kicked Mal from the castle and told her not to come back. She did that often but Mal knew if she hadn’t returned by nightfall there would be hell to pay. 

For all that Maleficent was evil and cruel, Mal was often spared her wrath for whatever reason. Maleficent would often impose her will on her daughter. The evil fairy was not afraid to use what little innate magic she could to dominate her daughter. Mal’s head ached just thinking about it. The pressure of her mother’s magic and mind hurt. It hurt far worse than anything physical ever did. 

Still, she was free of it for the moment. Mal was untouchable on the Isle of the Lost. There was nothing and no one would dare touch her without Maleficent’s permission. She was the safest person on the Isle and yet she was still careful because the Isle was not full of the best and brightest and there were a few who would find it fun to test her mother 

So when Mal finds herself at knifepoint by a boy her age with a “T” scar on his face Mal knows she found one of the few willing to test Maleficent. 

“Empty your pockets,” the boy hissed dangerously. He pushed her back up against a filthy crumbling wall and pressed the knife close to the skin on her neck. 

“Let. Me. Go.” Mal demanded fiercely. She was strong, she was powerful, evil and mean. This boy would not overpower her. 

The boy smirked and shook his head, “Pockets or I’ll cut you and then just take it while you heal up.” 

“My mother will make you wish for death if you cut me,” Mal told him trying to get to the knife she kept at her side. “She’ll torture you behind your wildest imagination. You’ll regret it!” 

“Oh trust me,” the boy said dryly. “There is noting your mother could do to me that hasn’t already been done.” 

“Az!” A voice shouted from behind where the boy had Mal pinned. “Go!” 

Mal caught a glimpse of dirty black hair and a girl with a “T” scar on her face. Another of the traitor children Mal realized. 

“Not now Lon,” the boy ‘Az’ said irritably. “I’m busy.” 

“I see that,” ‘Lon’ said sarcastically. “You’re getting us in trouble with Maleficent, idiot.” 

‘Lon’ scowled at ‘Az’ but the boy didn’t flinch. Mal figured the kids were smart enough not to use their real names after having lived on the Isle for as long as they had. Names had power on the Isle of the Lost so unless you had the power to protect yourself you didn’t use your real name, and sometimes not even then. 

“Like that’s anything new,” Az muttered. The boy, having grown tired of waiting on Mal to give in shoved his hand in her pocket. 

“Hey!” Mal shouted in alarm. 

“Oh shut up,” Az said as he rolled his eyes. “Quit bitching, jeez.” The traitor managed to find the secret pocket where Mal kept her stash of stolen items. 

“Oh score,” Az said excitedly, for a moment Mal saw the child Az truly was and she hated it. 

Mal bucked against the knife. She knew it wouldn’t kill her and Az was distracted. The sudden movement meant the traitor child dropped the knife as she expected and Mal pulled away. Her bright green eyes flashed and both traitor kids flinched back. 

“I warned you,” Mal said firmly. “Now give me back-” 

A sharp heavy pain rocked through her head and Mal fell to the ground. It took several moments before she could lift her head enough to see what had hit her, or who rather. 

It was a girl. Mal could see her better now, she was thin with dark stringy hair plastered to her face. She too had the vivid ‘T’ scar on her face but she also had other scars. Lines, nail marks on the corner of her jaw that stood out even as faded as they were. Mal recognized them right away because she had matching ones on her arms and shoulders. 

“It’s you,” Mal slurred when she realized just who the girl was. 

The girl cocked her head to the side and crouched down next to Mal. She had fangs Mal noticed, how strange. “Hello daughter of Maleficent,” the girl said calmly. “My name is Li Lonnie and we are taking all of your things.” 

The girl spoke oddly Mal noticed, she had heard it faintly before when the girl was talking to Az but it was clearer now. She had a strange accent and her words were pronounced funny. It was like she was weighing every word before she said them. 

The boy Az smirked down at Mal and waved his knife goodbye after he tucked away Mal’s things. Lonnie gave Mal one final look and disappeared after her friends leaving Mal bleeding and hurt on the ground. Her purple hair spilled out like blood and she waited patiently for the world to stop spinning. 

Mal was nine when she first acknowledged the traitor children as something more. 

\--

Isle of the Lost, Present Day 

“The six of you have been chosen to go to Auradon!” Maleficent shouted with delight. “Isn’t it wonderful?” 

Mal looked back at her crew, all of whom looked back at her with wide shocked eyes. “Auradon?” She asked, unable to believe what she had heard. “You want us to go to Auradon?” 

“Oh no dear,” Maleficent said sweetly. “_I_ don’t. It’s by the royal proclamation of High King Benjamin.” The evil faerie drummed her nails on the rolled-up proclamation she held in her hand. 

Maleficent’s goons had forced Mal and her gang to join the Mistress of Darkness in what passed as her castle. Jafar, the Evil Queen, and Cruella were there as well standing in front of their children. The older villains acted as a sort of counsel for Maleficent. Mostly the evil faerie just ordered them around and they begrudgingly did what she commanded. 

Maleficent’s counsel had seen better days. Hunger and living rough had very clearly left its mark on the older generation. Jafar was tall as he always had been, years of being hungry and having to steal, threaten, and cheat people out of their possessions had left him thinner than ever before. His eyes were mean and the claw-like grip he had on Jay’s shoulder was firm. From his spot along the eastern wall, the old ex-vazier kept a close eye on Aziz. Mal shuddered at the dark look in the man’s eyes. Jafar liked to say Aziz looked like this mother and Jay had pulled the sick monster off Aziz more than once. 

Aziz looked like Jay in the sense that they both came from Agrabah but that was where the similarities ended. Aziz kept his hair short, the sides were cropped close to his head and the top was long and almost fluffy when it dried. Aziz was a frequent customer at Curl up and Dye and the top had been teal for several years now. 

The Evil Queen was harsh. It was easy to see why the magic mirror had declared her step-daughter the fairest of them all because Mal wasn’t sure the old queen had ever been pretty. She stood like royalty even though at this point the only she ruled was the Isle whore house. The old bitch often used the house as a threat for Evie, act right, like a princess or else get treated like a common whore. 

Cruella was muttering to herself in the corner Mal could see her mouth moving even if she didn’t hear anything. Every so often Carlos flinched away from his mother but she tightened her grip and pulled him closer. Madness had eaten away at anything that had once existed in Cruella De Vil, she was unkempt, loud, and cruel. Perfect for Maleficent. 

Mal could see Lonnie’s tense form. She wanted so much to rip Carlos away from his mother. Li Lonnie was a hero kid, Mal knew. No matter how many times the Isle kicked her down the girl clawed her way back up. Her hair was shoulder length and along with the ‘T’ scar that both traitor kids wore Lonnie’s face bore Maleficent’s nail marks almost with pride. 

“All of us?” Lonnie asked uncertainly after she pulled her gaze away from Cruella. Mal wanted to shout at the girl for speaking up and drawing attention to herself Maleficent was indecisive when it came to the traitor children. On one hand they were the children of heroes and therefore needed to be crushed under her heel but on the other hand, the two traitor children had been cast out, abandoned. Maleficent sometimes saw them as the perfect revenge, shaping and molding them to be villains. 

Luckily the evil faerie was in the mood to see the traitor children like, particularly stupid minions. 

“Yes, you stupid girl,” Maleficent barked out. “All of you. The benevolent King has seen fit to extend his hand not only to the poor, villain children but also to the children of his father’s enemies.” 

Lonnie’s face went worryingly blank and Mal could see Aziz retreating behind a similar mask. The execution of their parents was a sore subject for Aziz and Lonnie, Mal knew. Up until last year on the anniversary of the ending of the rebellion Auradon would rebroadcast the executions of the Traitors and the two traitor children would hide away and drink themselves into oblivion. Lonnie had explained once what it felt like being forced to kneel and watch her parents executed. 

Mal has never been able to understand just what the other girl felt when she described the sheer grief she suffered but it was easy to see that after all these years, the pain was still sharp and fresh. Almost any mention of their parents resulted in swift and brutal vengeance unless it was Maleficent.

“And it is under the guise of this proclamation that we will strike!” Maleficent said with an evil smile. “You six will go to Auradon steal Fairy Godmother’s magic wand to break the barrier and kill the king.” 

“What?” The six of them shouted almost in unison. 

Maleficent held up a hand to demand silence and Mal felt her mouth snap-closed almost automatically. The girl could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and her wide panicked eyes found those of her friends. All five of them looked as frightened as she was, stealing the wand was one thing. Killing a king was another matter entirely. 

Mal had killed before, so had Jay, Carlos, and Lonnie, but death on the Isle was a fleeting thing. Death in Auradon was much more permanent. “Worried Mal?” Maleficent asked mockingly.”Scared that you and your little crew can’t do it?” 

Mal swallowed harshly but didn’t allow her mother to bait her into replying. The older fae smirked. Mal found herself in Maleficent’s grip, her mother’s hand holding her face tightly. 

“If you fail me, child,” Maleficent said softly. “I will do worse than kill you. I’ll take all of your little friends, don’t try that with me, Mal you are not as smart as you would think. I know what you think of your so-called crew, of your _minions_. I will take your friends and I will destroy them. They will suffer and you will watch, until I’ve destroyed this part of you that cares and then you will kill them, over and over and over again until the world collapses and we are all dust. Do you understand me?” 

Mal trembled in her mother’s hand and tried to nod her understand as she could not speak. 

“I do not lie,” Maleficent reminder her daughter. Maleficent's eyes began to glow a sickly green color and Mal gasped in pain. “Fae do not lie.” 

Mal nodded, blood from Maleficent's nails piercing her pale skin dripped down her cheeks, an oath made on Mal’s blood was not something to be ignored. “Yes, mother,” Mal whispered. “I understand.” 

“Good,” Maleficent purred, her punishing grip turning into a mockery of a loving hold. “Now, get out of my sight. All of you! Get out!” 

Mal scrambled to get as far away from her mother as she could. Her friends ran after her slipping their parents grips or just fleeing in the case of Aziz and Lonnie. All six of them knew where Mal wanted to go, where they were going to hide.

“Oh Mal,” Maleficent called before her daughter could disappear. “Take this, and meet me here tomorrow morning. The king will be sending someone to get you. Do not be late.” 

Mal caught the scroll one of Maleficent’s goons threw at her with one hand and disappeared out the door. The weight of the scroll and the task Maleficent had given her made it hard to breathe and when she finally reached Carlos’ treehouse Mal was gasping for breath. 

She stood at the base of the tree for what felt like hours before she could convince herself to climb up. Her crew’s pale frightened faces greeted her and Mal exhaled harshly. 

“E, Carlos, read this,” Mal commanded. “We leave tomorrow morning and I want to know everything we can before the king’s people show up.” 

“Does it say we get to go?” Lonnie asked softly as Evie and Carlos read through the scroll. “Back-back then the king said we would never again set foot on Auradon soil.” 

Mal saw Aziz carefully trail his hand over his ‘T’ shaped scar. Jay saw it too and bumped the other boy with his shoulder to distract him. Mal rolled her eyes as the playful shove devolved into a wrestling match. 

“It does,” Evie said after a moment. “It names, me, Carlos, Jay, and Mal specifically up here when it talks about the children of the Isle and then down here-” 

Evie pointed to that part on the scroll. 

“- it says you and Az are invited with us,” Evie said. “It doesn’t call either of you traitors just identifies you by your names and your parent’s names.”

Both of the traitor kids became lost in thought, Mal knew any time Auradon talked about them or their parents on the state news (the only channel the Isle of the Lost was able to pick up) they were referred to as traitors. 

“Anything else we should know?” Mal asked thoughtfully. 

“It’s a request,” Carlos said softly. “It says the king ‘asks us’ to join him at Auradon prep.” 

Mal huffed a laugh. 

“Well he won’t live to regret asking that,” she said darkly. “Between freeing the villains and what mother wants us to do…” 

The group of six fell into an uneasy silence. The uncertainty and the knowledge of what they had to do hung thick in the air. 

“What if we fail?” Aziz asked, breaking the heavy silence. “What will she do to us?” 

Mal reached up and rubbed the no longer bleeding nail marks on her face and shuddered. “We won’t fail,” Mal decided. “We can’t fail.” 

The others ignored the way her voice trembled and how her hands shook when she took the proclamation scroll. Even without Mal telling them, they knew what Maleficent would do to them if they failed. They all knew there was only one option. They had to succeed in stealing the wand and breaking the barrier. They had to kill the king and if they didn’t, well a true death in Auradon would be better than anything that waited for them on the Isle of the Lost.


End file.
